Chick-fil-A Won’t Make Sunday Exception For Super Bowl

ATLANTA (CBS Local) — You scored some tickets for Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and you’ve arrived early to pick up an order at the Chick-fil-A stand near section 123 on the way to your seats.

Wait! What? Chick-fil-A is closed on Super Bowl Sunday?

That’s right, the Atlanta-based fast-food restaurant will not be open Feb. 3 when the New England Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams.

Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy established the policy of being closed on Sundays in 1946 to give his employees a day of rest and worship and not even a hometown Super Bowl is going to change that.

Yes, Chick-fil-A has bent it’s no-Sunday rule a few times, but only in cases of emergencies and/or disasters such as the 2017 blackout at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta and after the 2016 nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

So why does Chick-fil-A even bother to have a stand at Mercedes-Benz Stadium when the Atlanta Falcons play nearly all of their games on Sundays? Because there are numerous other events at the venue, including Atlanta United games, the SEC Championship, Chick-fil-A Kickoff games and the Chick-fil-A Bowl, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Instead of Chick-fil-A, the stand near section 123 will be open as “Fries Up,” which serves French fries with various toppings, Sports Illustrated reports.

Watch Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, Feb. 3, on your local CBS station and online at CBS All Access. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EST.